Guatemala defies ‘Monsanto Law’ pushed by US as part of trade agreement

A woman carries vegetables from the field at the end of the day in Tecpan, Guatemala (Reuters/Daniel LeClair) / Reuters

The highest court in Guatemala has suspended the controversial 'Monsanto Law,' a provision of a US-Central American trade agreement, that would insulate transnational seed corporations considered to have “discovered" new plant varieties.

The Constitutional Court suspended on Friday the law - passed in
June and due to go into effect on Sept. 26 - after a writ of
amparo was filed by the Guatemalan Union, Indigenous and Peasant
Movement, which argued the law would harm the nation, LaVoz
reported.

The Court’s decision came after several Guatemalan
parliamentarians from both the governing Patriotic Party and the
opposition party Renewed Democratic Freedom said they would
consider repealing the law after outcry from a diverse
cross-section of Guatemalans.

The decision also offers interested parties 15 days to present
their arguments pertaining to the law in front of the
Constitutional Court. Members of both political parties said they
would present motions to resist the law.

The 'Law for the Protection of New Plant Varieties,' dubbed the
'Monsanto Law' by critics for its formidable seed-privatization
provisions, is an obligation for all nations that signed the 2005
CAFTA-DR free trade agreement between Costa Rica, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and the
United States. The agreement requires signatories to adhere to
the International Convention for the Protection of New Plant
Varieties.

The law offers producers of transgenic seeds, often corporate
behemoths like Monsanto, strict property rights in the event of
possession or exchange of original or harvested seeds of
protected varieties without the breeder's authorization. A
breeder's right extends to "varieties essentially derived
from the protected variety,” thus, a hybrid of a protected
and unprotected seed belongs to the protected seed’s producer.

The Rural Studies Collective (Cer-Ixim) warned that the law would
monopolize agriculture processes, severely threaten food
sovereignty - especially those of indigenous peoples - and would
sacrifice national biodiversity "under the control of
domestic and foreign companies."

The National Alliance for Biodiversity Protection said in July
that the law is unconstitutional "because it violates the
rights of peoples. It will benefit transnational seed companies
such as Monsanto, Duwest, Dupont, Syngenta, etc."

"According to this law, the rights of plant breeders are
superior to the rights of peoples to freely use seeds," the
Alliance said in a statement.

"It’s a direct attack on the traditional knowledge,
biodiversity, life, culture, rural economy and worldview of
Peoples, and food sovereignty," the Alliance added.

Anyone who violates the law, wittingly or not, could face a
prison term of one to four years, and fines of US$130 to $1,300.

It is unclear what options the Guatemalan government has given
the obligations under CAFTA-DR. The US would likely put pressure
on the nation to pass the law, part of a global effort using
trade agreements to push further corporate
control over trade sectors like agriculture in the name of
modernization. Upon further refusal, the US could drop Guatemala
from the trade agreement.